


Conversations On A Sidewalk

by Claire



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Anya/Xander mentioned, F/F, Past Anyanka/Halfrek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-06-11
Updated: 2003-06-11
Packaged: 2018-10-18 23:57:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10627887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claire/pseuds/Claire
Summary: Buffy finds Anya sitting on a sidewalk





	

It had been quieter than Buffy had expected. Only two new vamps in Sunnydale cemetery in the early evening and the rest of the night had been spent wandering around looking for something to fight. It was only when 3am rolled around and Buffy figured that the evil populace of Sunnydale must have taken the night off that she decided to do the same, taking one last pass through the town before she went home.

Main Street was as quiet as she'd thought it would be. Only idiots, vampires and the Slayer tended to wander around during the very early hours of the morning, and it seemed like the first two had definitely called it quits for the night.

Except… Buffy looked at the lone figure sitting on the edge of the sidewalk, recognition blooming, even under the flickering dullness of the streetlight. Quickly shifting direction, Buffy closed the distance between the two of them in a few easy strides.

Eyes squinted up at her, shoulders slumping back as Anya softly declared, "oh, it's only you."

Buffy's concern overrode the momentary flare of irritation. "Anya, where have you been?" No one had seen or heard from Anya in days, not since the ex-vengeance demon had turned her back on D'Hoffryn, causing him to take the life of one of Anya's oldest friends.

"I've been here," Anya stated. "Here, because I'm not allowed in there," she added, glancing back to the building behind her.

Buffy followed Anya's gaze to the non-descript building that held 'Kem'wak's', the demon bar that had taken over from Willie's in popularity. "Why?"

"No humans."

Buffy's features melted into realisation. As the Slayer she'd never let it stop her, but the demon bars that didn't have that rule were the exception.

Anya continued, her voice low. "They just don't belong in there. I don't belong in there." Her head tilted to one side slightly as she looked up at the night sky. "I guess I don't belong anywhere, anymore."

"You belong with us." The words slipped from Buffy's lips before she could stop them.

Anya snorted. "You put up with me because I gave Xander great orgasms and made Giles money."

Buffy sighed. Part of her knew that what Anya was saying was the truth. The woman in front of her was tactless and annoying. But she was also a Scooby, whether she admitted it or not. Leaning down to brush a hand over the sidewalk and cast the dust into the gutter, Buffy sat down. "We put up with you because you're our friend. We put up with you because that's what friends do. They put up with each other, through the rough times as well as the good ones."

"Hallie was my friend." The words were soft, quiet. "She was my friend, and she's dead because of it."

Buffy reached out, her hand resting lightly on Anya's arm. "I don't know what to say to you, Anya. The two of you were friends for an age. I don't know what I _could_ say, to be honest."

Anya glanced down at Buffy's hand. "We were more than friends, you know."

"Sorry?" Because although she'd followed the sentence she hadn't quite understood it.

"Me and Hallie," Anya explained, "we were more than just friends."

"Oh," replied Buffy, still not entirely knowing what Anya was getting at until the ex-demon lifted her head, her gaze meeting Buffy's. And then there was no question of misunderstanding, because Anya's grief was written in every line of her face. "Oh!"

But Anya continued on, either unaware or uncaring of Buffy's reaction. "It's a surprisingly male orientated world, vengeance demoning. For a long time I was the only female vengeance giver working for D'Hoffryn. And then Hallie was appointed. She was so prim, so unsure of why she was there, of whether or not she could do the job." A soft sigh escaped her. "I was used to seeing the worst of women. Hating, vengeful. Beautiful beyond anything in their fury. But Hallie? Hallie was so different when she first started out. I was drawn to her."

At least Buffy could relate to that part of Anya's confession. Being drawn to someone even though you weren't sure why was something she had more than enough experience of. The rest of it, though? "But you're so straight. I mean, you seemed pathologically attached to Xander's penis!" Buffy flushed red as she realised what she'd just said.

"Xander's penis is a good penis." Anya paused at the mention of her ex-fiancé's name, and then her head dropped again, gaze fixed on nothing Buffy could see. "The thing you have to understand is, if I saw the worst of women, I saw more than the worst of men. Cheating boyfriends, husbands who beat their wives. No one calls on a vengeance demon because they just had a really fun day out at the park."

"No, I guess not." When Anya put it that way Buffy could see why she'd be attracted to another woman.

"And she was soft. Gentle in the way a man would never know how to be. It was… safe." She looked up, eyes focusing in on Buffy's. "I miss safe."

Buffy wanted to tell Anya that she was safe with them, wanted to tell her that it would be okay, but the words were trapped by the lips that were suddenly pressing against hers. Her fingers tightened on Anya's arm as the other woman moved closer, lips insistent, warm, _there_. And Buffy could feel the difference, the softness of Anya's skin compared to the harshness of a man's, the gentleness of her mouth. She wanted to open her lips, to deepen the contact into something beyond friendship, beyond propriety. But then the touch was gone and Anya was standing, straightening her wrinkled clothes.

"I'll be around, Buffy." Then she was walking away, leaving Buffy sitting on the sidewalk with nothing more than her fingers tracing over the ghost of a kiss.


End file.
